Cloud-powered co-innovation ecosystem of capabilities and talent a force multiplier in engaging consumers and meeting their needs across all facets of life
airasia Super App, the digital travel and lifestyle platform for everyone in Southeast Asia, and Google Cloud today announced a five-year strategic collaboration to advance airasia Super App’s vision of a co-innovation ecosystem that all businesses and developers can partake in to serve the daily needs of people in the region. The two organizations will combine core competencies to nurture technology talent, co-create software tools for open innovation, deliver data-driven intelligence on behalf of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) on the platform, and ensure accessibility for diverse users in cities and rural areas.
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airasia Super App, which operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, is part of Capital A’s digital pillar. The platform offers flight and hotel bookings, e-commerce, food and parcel delivery, ride-hailing, financial and health services, on-demand education and more, anchored by an integrated rewards program and mobile wallet. Even as some services are being launched in various markets across Asean, the platform is already the lifestyle application of choice for 51 million users. Since its inception in 2020, airasia Super App has become one of three unicorns headquartered in Malaysia, according to Credit Suisse.
“Five years ago, when I decided to move our digital journey to its next stage, I was looking for a partner to help us reach that nirvana, much like how Airbus and General Electric helped us grow from a little two-plane operation to become the fourth largest airline in Asia. I went around the US looking for that partner, met Diane Greene from Google Cloud, and the journey started. With Thomas and his team, we are now on the road to disrupting the digital platform arena in the same vein as we did airlines. We may be late in the game, but with the Super App as the center of our ecosystem of e-commerce, logistics and fintech, we are determined to give all 700 million people in Asean inclusivity, accessibility and value,” said Tony Fernandes, CEO, Capital A.
“With Google’s help, our ecosystem will not only be transactional, but be about building community, and enriching that community – not just the customers but partners like restaurants, airlines, hotels and drivers. I’m excited to reveal how airasia and all of Capital A’s assets will transform Asean and deliver value, not only in transactions but in making Asean a smaller place. What we are doing is not evolutionary, but revolutionary. I’m going to enjoy the ride with Google,” added Fernandes.
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The strategic collaboration and ecosystem building efforts will encompass four pillars:
Fostering an agile culture and co-innovation talent engine: airasia Super App and Google Cloud will establish a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) consisting of AirAsia Allstars and Google Cloud technologists. The CCoE will embed an agile culture across all airasia Super App business units to accelerate product development velocity, enable teams to embrace change, and upskill talent. This includes tapping Google Cloud’s Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and MLOps best practices, so staff and AirAsia Academy graduates can strengthen their technical capabilities and meet the requirements of the fast-growing business. As an extension of Google Cloud’s product development team, the CCoE will also drive co-innovation efforts to shape technological advances for the region and beyond.